There is no rumour mill like the Toronto rumour mill. We can all agree on that. And, right now, Brad-Richards-to-the-Leafs is in the hopper, ready to be ground up and spit out. On behalf of all Leafs’ fans everywhere, I’m happy to say, “No, thank you” to the prospect of Richards coming to Toronto. Not interested. Not under any circumstances. Let him ultimately skate his way into retirement elsewhere.

Oh, I can hear you already. Blathering on about how Richards is having a great season in Dallas. At this moment, he sits T-6 in NHL scoring. Boy, the Leafs could sure use his 9 goals and 24 points, right? You’re yammering about how he had a career-best tying 91 points there last year. I get that. He’s had a bit of a re-birth in the Lone Star State.

But there are a few problems with the Leafs acquiring ol’ Brad. First, he’s 30 years old. He’ll turn 31 during next spring’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not ancient, but answer me this question: Is he on his way up, or on his way down? If you are honest with yourself, you said down.

Are his best years ahead of him, or behind? That’s right, behind – on Florida’s gulf coast. That is absolutely not what the Leafs need right now.

Toronto has a long, long, distasteful history of bringing in forwards on the downside of their careers and expecting miracles. It very rarely ends well in this city. Jason Blake (don’t forget he had a 40-goal season, just before he came to Toronto and dove into the tank), Darcy Tucker, Eric Lindros, Owen Nolan - my fingers grow so weary.

All these guys came to the Leafs on the downside of their careers, amid much fanfare, pomp and pageantry – as only Toronto sports’ fans and media can fabricate.

There are exceptions. Alexander Mogilny, perhaps. Glenn Anderson, maybe. They are the exception rather than the norm in T.O. And, of course, there is the matter of Richards’ ridiculous salary. It’s a deal he signed in Tampa Bay, after the lockout, when he’d just won the Conn Smythe Trophy during the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup run. It ends in July 2011.

Richards makes US$7.8M this year. He’ll want a big chunk next July. Brian Burke can’t afford Richards – and he’s way too smart to even consider acquiring him before he becomes a UFA. It flies in the face of everything Burkie is preaching in Toronto – patience, youth, building from the ground up. Helping young players, like Nazem Kadri, develop.

Would Richards’ game dovetail nicely with Phil Kessel? In the short term, it likely would. Who knows how many goals Kessel would score with Richards deftly slipping him the puck. But Burke won’t knee-jerk with Richards. He’s already invested too much into this club. Nor should he.

Steve Lansky's first exposure to the game was at storied Maple Leaf Gardens, running downstairs at the end of every period just to watch the great Dave Keon walk off the ice to the room. A decade later, while he was still in high school, Oilers' head coach Glen Sather asked Lansky, "Hey, how'd you like to be our team statistician?" In 1983, at the age of 22, Lansky became the youngest producer in the history of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, giving him a front-row seat to the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty. Lansky also helped launch Rogers Sportsnet's fledgling hockey coverage when the network made its début in 1998.
You can follow him at bigmouthsports.com and at twitter.com/bigmouthsports

I still say sign me up. Burke just "knee-jerked" and had Kadri on the 1st line, which kind of goes against his "patience, youth, building from the ground up" developmental plan. He's not an NHL first liner.

Worst case scenario: Leafs get an aging forward that still has plenty of decent years. He's not going to be making 8 schmil anymore, so I would love to see him in Blue and White at 5-6 large a year.

I still say sign me up. Burke just "knee-jerked" and had Kadri on the 1st line, which kind of goes against his "patience, youth, building from the ground up" developmental plan. He's not an NHL first liner.

Worst case scenario: Leafs get an aging forward that still has plenty of decent years. He's not going to be making 8 schmil anymore, so I would love to see him in Blue and White at 5-6 large a year.

I think that Burke knee-jerked but only by a handful of games. His record with guys like Getzlaf and Perry was to give them about 20 games. Bobby Ryan played a lot more because of cap contraints. The Leafs are the youngest team in the NHL by the way.

If Richards gets to UFA I don't think he'll make it as low as $5M but he'd definitely be an attractive option depending on term but again, highly unlikely.

I think that Burke knee-jerked but only by a handful of games. His record with guys like Getzlaf and Perry was to give them about 20 games. Bobby Ryan played a lot more because of cap contraints. The Leafs are the youngest team in the NHL by the way.

If Richards gets to UFA I don't think he'll make it as low as $5M but he'd definitely be an attractive option depending on term but again, highly unlikely.

I can dream about the 5 mil. But 6-6.5 annual cap hit for him wouldn't be a horrible acquisition in my humble opinion. We'll see I suppose. A lot is going to happen between now and when he becomes an UFA.